NEWS
tRANSfoRmAtIoN StRUctURE WIll dRIvE chANgE: o’NEIll
the health minister, michelle o’Neill, has announced the establishment of a transformation Advisory Board to oversee the direction and speed of reform and a transformation Implementation group to manage the implementation of the transformation set out in the minister’s vision, ‘health and Wellbeing 2026, delivering together’.
‘‘health and Wellbeing 2026: delivering together’ provides a roadmap for radical transformation in the health and social care system,’ the minister said. ‘given the size and scale of the challenge ahead we need to start now to properly plan, implement and embed the whole-system transformation. that transformation begins with the leadership and structure to drive change, with the involvement of service providers and users.
‘membership of this Board will be drawn from the field of independent experts, trade unions, service user and community and voluntary sector representatives along with the Permanent Secretary of the department of health. I am delighted that Professor Rafael Bengoa and mairead mcAlinden have agreed to continue their involvement with us, and will be members of this Board.
‘A transformation Implementation group has also been established. this group, chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the department of health includes clinical experts, leaders from the wider health and social care system and other partners, to drive forward the process of implementation. the first meeting of this group took place on 21 November 2016.’
6 - PhARmAcY IN focUS
locAtE A locUm SEcURES hUgE INvEStmENt to gRoW tEAm
locate a locum, the online platform that helps pharmacies connect with locum pharmacists, has secured a record investment from local venture capital firm techStartNI.
Securing the investment will allow for significant growth of their team and to fast-track development of their software.
locate a locum was formed in 2014 by pharmacist Jonathon clarke, who had experienced frustration at finding locum pharmacist work using old- fashioned business cards. Jonathon subsequently designed a simple website to aid the matching process between pharmacist and pharmacy.
fast forward to 2016 and locate a locum has not only registered more than 1400 pharmacists, but is working with some of the largest pharmacy employers across the UK
and Ireland to help pharmacists source work on both a temporary and permanent basis.
‘We’re really excited about the next stage in the company journey,’ said Jonathon. ‘It’s great to welcome techstart to our team and we look forward to working with them to help shape the pharmacy recruitment process for the better.’
december was a particularly successful month for locate a locum as they launched an updated version of their website. By simplifying the matching process, locate a locum is now able to source cover for pharmacies in under 60 seconds.
If you need locum cover or want to be notified of locum shifts in your area, visit
www.locatealocum.com
NEW SURvEY REINfoRcES RolE of commUNItY PhARmAcY
patient harm are made by the Northern Ireland community pharmacy network every year.
Pictured at the CPNI survey launch (l-r): Paul Cooper (CPNI Chairman); David McCrea, (Community Pharmacist); Gerard Greene, (CPNI Chief Executive); Mrs Margaret Weatherup; Philip Boyle, (Community Pharmacist) and Maeve Hully (Chief Executive, Patient Client Council)
community Pharmacy NI (cPNI) has released the findings of a survey, which they carried out in September 2016. ‘community Pharmacy…the best kept secret’ is an intervention survey, which involved the 223 pharmacies, which took part in the study, recording interventions over the period of one week.
the survey showed that, overall, a total of 127,091 interventions were recorded over the one-week period by the pharmacies taking part in the survey, equating to: • over fifteen million interventions
per year across the community pharmacy network in NI • over 300,000 interventions per week across the community pharmacy network • over 50,000 interventions per day across the community pharmacy network • Almost 100 interventions every day per pharmacy • Around ten interventions per hour per pharmacy • Almost 30 per cent of survey interventions were judged as ‘likely to prevent harm’, meaning an estimated 4.4 million interventions preventing
‘community pharmacies are visited by 123,000 people every day in Northern Ireland and community pharmacy teams know their patients, sometimes back through the generations,’ said cPNI chief Executive, gerard greene. ‘Every age group benefits from the interventions of pharmacy teams, with almost 700,000 made to support minor ailments in children across the community pharmacy network each year. these results demonstrate that community pharmacies are being used as the first port of call for the treatment and management of minor ailments and health concerns.
‘Without this resource, the next option for these children would be a gP appointment – causing an even greater bottleneck in an already stretched hSc system. this is just the tip of the iceberg. community pharmacies can and want to do so much more. Without this unique mix of clinical expertise and accessibility, a high number of patients’ health would undoubtedly be at risk.’
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